http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/the-office-survival-test

Here is Jen (my cousin)'s obituary, in case anyone is curious.

http://www.currentobituary.com/ShowObit.aspx?id=50354&member_id=116

May she rest in peace.

My cousin Jenny died sometime yesterday afternoon. She was suffering from cancer - first from brain cancer, and then it spread to her spine. She's been suffering for a long while now... my family's been waiting for her to pass on for weeks now.

I don't know how I feel. I should feel distraught & be crying, but instead I just feel..... nothing. Numb.
I guess it's just how I handle things. Bury them. Deep. Ignore them. Pretend they're not there.

Between my other cousins fighting sickness (one battling breast cancer, one with a recently-discovered liver disease, one needs a new kidney, one with bad blood), my aunt having health problems (might have to have her thyroid removed or something), having no money, being in debt (well over $1000), ending my serious relationship with my boyfriend, having no car or apartment of my own, not being able to get a medical assistant job, and now my cousin finally passing away..... I'd really like something to go right for me, or at least my family already. How much more can we take?

At least iParty gave me Saturday & Sunday off, so I'll have some time w/ my family. Wake's on Monday, funeral's on Tuesday. I'll post the obituary soon.

((cross-posted to my MySpace))

     Yesterday went well! 'Dorothy's Boutique' ended up being completely awesome. I think everyone should go there if they have the chance! They have all kinds of costume stuff at good prices, and - yes! - they had not one, but a few different pink wigs there! And they didn't cost an arm & a leg!  ::halleluia chorus plays::  The drawback: They didn't have a LIGHT pink wig without bangs, so I had to get a hot pink one. But no biggie, I was just thrilled to have one! The sales girl was soooooo nice! She let me try a couple on, gave me a few tips for keeping hair under a wig, & she was just terrific! A+! So I paid the 30-something dollars & went on my way a VERY satisfied cosplayer.

     I had 'lunch' at a McDonald's down the street. I put lunch in quotation marks b/c I ordered a 'Mighty Kids Meal' ( ::rolls her eyes:: ), but the cashier didn't understand 100% of my English & gave me just 6 McNuggets & a sm. soda (which I wanted anyway) instead. Rather than make waves, b/c it really wasn't a big deal, I ate it.

     Then I went to the Sheraton and, longer story short, waited for Hill & Chris to arrive. And luckily, it wasn't too long of a wait! Oh man, I was sooooooo excited to see them! We got into our room, dropped our stuff, & then went to Pre-Registration for Anime Boston. We were in line for kind of a while (at least an hour, if not 1 1/2 hours), so it kinda pushed our plans back a bit (but it's okay, I loved just hanging out with them!).

     Then we got on the subway to the Harvard Sq. stop and went to Tokyo Kid (for anyone who doesn't know, it's an anime store). I was hoping to find a red 'leaf village' (Naruto) headband to go with my Sakura costume & wig, but - no dice. Tokyo Kid is gonna have a booth set up in the Dealer's room later today though, so I'll try then. Hill ended up buying me a mini Rinoa figure! She's so sweet!  *^__^*

     Speaking of Rinoa..... guess what ELSE I forgot to bring with me! Her skirt!!!  ::punches herself::  ARRGGHH!!!  ::sighs::  No matter... I'm gonna wander the Pru mall a little this morning (Hill & Chris are still asleep right now) to try & find a denim skirt. I was gonna get one @ Urban Outfitters last night b/c there was one across the street from 'The Garage' mall (where Tokyo Kid was), but it would have cost me $48 or $58!!! Yeah... that's just ridiculous. I'll figure out something else. Besides, we're not doing our Final Fantasy cosplay under TOMORROW (Saturday), so it'll give me time to look.

     The opening ceremonies for AB don't start until 11am, and the dealer's room doesn't open until 12pm, so that gives me a little time this morning. But at any rate - I'd better take my shower & get going. The sooner I get ready, the sooner I can have breakfast & shop, and come back to the room for Hill & Chris. Okay, I'm off!  ::runs::

PS - My Rinoa weapon/prop, the 'Shooting Star', got kinda banged up while I was carrying down windy Mass Ave towards the Sheraton. Oy. It's not in HORRIBLE condition, but a couple of the 'wings' are becoming unglued, so I'll have to fix that before tomorrow. Fun fun.  *-__-

The Good News: Chris got into the AB Cosplay Chess Match, and Anime Boston is in two days. YAY!!!

The Bad News: I'm still working on stuff for both my Rinoa & my Sakura costume at this point.

The Ugly: 1) I don't think I'm gonna be able to complete Rinoa's weapon (the 'Shooting Star') - not b/c of the time running out, but b/c I made it a little too big, and it's most likely not gonna fit in even my large rolling suitcase.  ::imitates season 3 Blackadder::  "D*mn!!!"  I may just leave it 1/2 done to fit in my suitcase, and finish hot gluing it when I get there. Ugh... man, what a pain.....
     2) I still have a bunch of little things to do for my Sakura costume, and time is VERY quickly running out! If I get really desperate (which I'm beginning to be!), I may just end up hot gluing the d*mn thing together - which I don't want to do, because it might look cheap and it'll certainly feel cheap, but... I want it to be done! Waah!  ::poutpout::
     3) I'm gonna have to bring my huge-*$$ rolling suitcase to Boston b/c of my costumes & stuff - and I have 2 classes to go to Thursday morning! Urgh!!! So I can either look retarded & wheel my mini-hearse into my classes with me..... or go to the Sheraton, see if they'll hold my suitcase for me for a few hours, probably be late for my first class, finish my 2nd class at about 12:20pm, go back to the Sheraton, and wait for Chris & Hill to arrive.

.............

::sighs::
.....Once again, nothing is ever easy.

((cross-posted to ))

katiep_cosplay

Ugh... this has been a very annoying morning.

I was supposed to meet with 'XXXX' from Tufts Medical Center this morning, so that she could give me my externship papers (my final evaluation, & a signed paper saying that I'd finished 120 hrs., etc). 

She was supposed to have them ready for me on Wednesday morning, but she was 'too busy'. She told me that she'd get them to me sometime on Thursday. Thursday came & went, and - big shock - she was 'too busy'. She asked me if I could come back Friday morning, when she wouldn't be busy (supposedly). I told her that I had one long class & an exit interview with my school  on Friday , but she said that if I could come first thing in the morning, it shouldn't be a problem. Fine.

I checked in with my teacher this morning, walked the 6-10 min. walk to Back Bay station, got on the Orange Line to Oak Grove, and got off at the next stop - New England Medical Center. I took the elevator in the hospital up to the 3rd floor of the 'Floating Hospital' section, walked to the Biewend building, took another elevator to the 14th floor, and got off to wait for XXXX (...annoying to read all that, isn't it? Now imagine doing it). I waited for her about 1/2 an hour, and - HUGE surprise - she never shows. So I wrote her a note, leaving out the pissed off mood I was in now, and went back through the hospital, down 2 elevators, took the subway back to Back Bay, and walked the 6-10 minutes back to school.

::stews angrilly for a moment, cartoonish 'anger lines' and 'vein pulses' coming off of her::

I might not even mind this situation so much, obnoxious as it is - except that this same woman has already done this sort of thing to me like, two or three times. It's wicked freaking unprofessional!
To this woman:

     I realize that you have a job to do, and that job (may) keep you very busy. Fine. Some jobs do that. But THIS (extern/intern relations) is part of you job too. And - sorry for the bad language - you S*CK at it.
     I'll ignore the fact that I didn't agree with how you evaluated me & Noelle (this other girl from Gibbs externing w/ me), especially since you weren't around for most of what we were learning/doing with our externship. You didn't see what we learned, what we performed, how well we did it, or how we interacted with others - so giving us a smaller # (rated 1-5) just b/c you personally didn't see us doing certain skills is idiotic. But like I said - I'll ignore this, b/c for the most part, you didn't grade us too harshly.
     However, on several occasions, you have been 'too busy' to do what you were supposed to do for us when you were supposed to do it. And I realize that your 'normal' job skills should come first, but as I said - THIS is part of your job too. If you can't do it right, than find someone else to do it who will do it right.

     Noelle and I are people too. And even though we're only 'lowly externs' and not actual employees of Tufts Medical Center, we are still people - people who deserve as much respect as anyone else. And not having our needed materials prepared and ready when we need them, and wasting our/my time (which is just as precious as yours, by the way), is not only rude and inconsiderate - it's unprofessional and a sign of disrespect. Don't tell me you're going to do something or be somewhere, and then not do it. 
     I've now lost any respect for you or your job that I could have had. And not only that - now I have to work around your schedule - AGAIN (what's convenient for you, not for me), to pick up these stupid externship papers that should have been ready on WEDNESDAY.

Once again, you S*CK. A lot. Immensely.

No respect & unsincerely yours,
Someone who you've ticked off one too many times.